Arcane Gish Options

[Deathgrowl]

Seriously thanks for correcting DG, wouldn't want to lead anyone down the wrong expectations.

I have high expectations of you!

[Hawke]

Mine has a max of 43 ac unbuffed with imp expertise... fully buffed i usually hit 51-53.

43 unbuffed gish?

[chad878262]

Sure, if you have auto-still you could see it if they are wearing magical gear... Even aiming for CL30, during the leveling process you will get dispelled. Taking the example of a DragonSlayer Gish they could have Mithral Full Plate, a +4 Tower Shield, +4 boots, deflection, dodge which would give an AC of 10 + 11 + 8 + 12 = 41 without any spells or feats. Throw on +4 Bracers of Armor and they reach 45, unbuffed.

Gish can get AC just like any other melee warrior, they usually don't because using spells allows them to prioritize other types of items. However, with breach/mords and as I said the fact that while leveling you will still be subject to dispels it isn't a bad idea to at least use some +3 gear to keep AC up in case of dispels/breaches.

[redwood]

Can someone please give me an example of a strength based bladesinger build? I've looked around online and have been unable to find one. I'm looking for a standard longsword strength based bladesinger build. Any help would be appreciated. I've been looking at Chad and valefort's builds for ideas on all my characters. Valefort has some sweet barbarian ideas. Both of you have a standard not based bladesinger, I was wondering if anyone could show me a str based one for guidance. Thank you. Hope it's not a bother.

[chad878262]

Can someone please give me an example of a strength based bladesinger build? I've looked around online and have been unable to find one. I'm looking for a standard longsword strength based bladesinger build. Any help would be appreciated. I've been looking at Chad and valefort's builds for ideas on all my characters. Valefort has some sweet barbarian ideas. Both of you have a standard not based bladesinger, I was wondering if anyone could show me a str based one for guidance. Thank you. Hope it's not a bother.

http://nwn2db.com/build/?274373

This is INT based, but you can switch to STR which will increase your AB at the expense of AC. If you go STR based I would recommend taking INT to 22 so you can still get + 4 AC (After Fox Cunning), without the need for Combat Insight you should still hit ~22 to 24 STR before Bull's.

[redwood]

Can someone please give me an example of a strength based bladesinger build? I've looked around online and have been unable to find one. I'm looking for a standard longsword strength based bladesinger build. Any help would be appreciated. I've been looking at Chad and valefort's builds for ideas on all my characters. Valefort has some sweet barbarian ideas. Both of you have a standard not based bladesinger, I was wondering if anyone could show me a str based one for guidance. Thank you. Hope it's not a bother.

http://nwn2db.com/build/?274373

This is INT based, but you can switch to STR which will increase your AB at the expense of AC. If you go STR based I would recommend taking INT to 22 so you can still get + 4 AC (After Fox Cunning), without the need for Combat Insight you should still hit ~22 to 24 STR before Bull's.

Thanks for that Chad. You're awesome. I appreciate the help as a beginner to builds. I'm still following the Phantom build you provided. It's been sweet with a party.

[Valefort]

Sidenote the longsword is two-handed so the damage will be a bit higher than in chad's notes, +5. My version is very similar except with a few fighter levels :

http://nwn2db.com/build/?263695

The cost of those fighter levels is lower CL and thus item dependency, you want AC items like any classical fighter build. However it's a fighter with level 9 spells to back him up to deal with any situation adequately, instead of buffing yourself systematically you can choose.

[chad878262]

For the record, I personally prefer Valefort's type of build with CL25 because I don't mind being item dependent and I feel they are overall more powerful with levels from Fighter, just like 5 levels of Swashbuckler for a more DEX focused Bladesinger. However, I know many players are stuck on not wanting to be dispelled and the build I posted is about the best you can do for those purposes with CL29.

[Rudolph]

My toon Sheath is a STR Bladesinger: W6/BM4/BS10/EK10. INT is left at 18 since I wanted to reach 50 AB with Tenser and dish out more than 30 dmg (I think Chad included the 2-handed dmg in the 16 from INT, Valefort). Sheath uses Pract. Spellcaster in combination with the Blood Magus pin prick to reach 30 CL, so it is possible to be undispellable.

This thread introduced me to the Cleric/Arcanist combo. Never thought of it on this dispelling server. Here's one way of making it work, perhaps, for someone with a big gold account and access to the epic shops. Finally, a gish with some oomph.

http://nwn2db.com/build/?274433

[chad878262]

I edited the damage after Valefort pointed out the miss...

Does Blood Magus is an interesting combo since it is not exactly in line with the lore of a BladeSinger. However, only taking to level 4 is an interesting take where the character perhaps walks the tightrope between good and "ends justify the means" type of evil. Mechanically you only get CE points when using the more powerful level 6 blood seeking spell so you won't run in to any alignment issues. Neat idea IMO.

[Tantive]

Ends justify the means, wouldn't that fall towards evil? Blood magic is the use of lifeforce to power spells, and in most societies more then just frowned upon.

[chad878262]

Ends justify the means, wouldn't that fall towards evil? Blood magic is the use of lifeforce to power spells, and in most societies more then just frowned upon.

Blood mage requires non-lawful, does not require non-good, thus unless the DM's rule otherwise it is an allowable build. As stated in my post (and I don't know Rudolph's RP, but was making assumptions), by stopping at level 4 the character doesn't take enough levels to be getting Chaotic and Evil points from using Blood Seeking Spell. This is a tight rope, wire thin line between the requirements of BladeSinger and going over to evil territory. From an RP perspective I could see it as the character experimenting with Blood Magic (for the greater good), but eventually realizing the fault in this line of thinking and going away from the practice.

This is just my own idea for a justification, the RP is in the hands of the individual player, but IMO it's an interesting/different take on a Bladesinger build both mechanically and from an RP standpoint.

[Tantive]

Practicing any sort of visible Blood Magic means consenting to be killed on sight by other players and civilzed NPCs regardless of their heritage or alignment

This is still written in the http://bgtscc.wikia.com/wiki/Blood_Magus description.

[Rudolph]

My lore is shoddy and I am not the most practised RPler, but I saw and played Sheath as being scarred by yielding to past temptations and anger and reminding himself with regular pin pricks of what lurks in the shadows.

As to the above, the forum and wiki also say this immediately afterwards:

Exceptions to discovery are: Blood Component because it is a tiny pin-prick, Scarification and passive abilities.

I guess some can gain a foothold on that slippery slope...

[metaquad4]

Ends justify the means, wouldn't that fall towards evil? Blood magic is the use of lifeforce to power spells, and in most societies more then just frowned upon.

Since this is a homebrew house ruling, a DM would need to comment on "why" it is evil. My guess is, using your own blood (pinprick, scars, spirit shaman blood magic) isn't evil but using the blood of another (blood-seeking spell, awaken blood) is? IDK for sure though. In PnP, Blood Magus was simply "anything but lawful good" and had no reference to alignment hopping to CE in its abilities.